Senator Lee M. Zeldin of Shirley announced Friday the Senate passed the Criminal Street Gang Act. Zeldin and Senator Martin Golden sponsored the bill in hopes of putting a dent in gang violence. The bill was inspired by community activists in Brentwood and Central Islip, family members affected by violence, and state and local officials who held peaceful rallies these last few weeks.

“The threat of gang violence in some of New York’s communities is constant and pervasive, plaguing entire communities. It jeopardizes public safety, threatens the security of our citizens and wreaks havoc on affected families,” said Senator Zeldin. “The State has an express responsibility to protect the public against such destructive criminal activity and this bill aims to do just that.”

The bill makes felons out of anyone participating in criminal street gang offenses, the acceptance of benefits or proceeds of gang activity, and the solicitation or recruitment of a person for involvement in a criminal street gang. It also creates anti-crime programs through the State Education Department by establishing a fund to educators so students can gain self values, self-esteem, knowledge, and the skills necessary to stay off the streets.

Also with such high rates of recidivism, Zeldin hopes this bill will show inmates the dangers of being in a gang. More importantly it will provide support services to help them get out safely.

“Too many New York families have been shattered by gang violence. Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen, first-hand, the tremendous pain criminal gang activity can cause, not only on the family members of the victims, but to an entire community. Enough is enough,” Said Zeldin. “I am incredibly proud of the comprehensive statutory framework we have created with this legislation, and I want to thank Senator Golden for his work on this bill as well as all of the community leaders whose passion and determination helped drive its passage.”

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are teaming up to break the continuing cycle of violence, drug dealing and gang activity crushing city neighborhoods and the residents who in many cases have become hostages in the neighborhoods.

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, along with Rochester Police and representatives from several other law enforcement agencies, announced Friday the arrest and indictment of three men allegedly connected to a west-side gang known as “M.D.B.” or “The Broezel Boys”.

Indicted are Jacob “JJ” Rivera, 22, Kevin “Nash” Feliciano, 19, and Marius “Florida” Johnson, 27, all of Rochester. They facing federal charges of narcotics trafficking, including conspiracy to possess and distribute crack cocaine and marijuana. The men are also facing gun charges in federal court.

If convicted, they could face a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life, authorities said.

“We are all committed to ridding the streets of Rochester of violent, drug-dealing organizations,” said Hochul at a press conference Friday. “Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted three particular individuals who were leaders and members of a particular gang.”

The press conference was held at the corner of Dewey and Lexington avenues, the center of the alleged gang activity, according to police. The gang allegedly controlled an open-air drug market in the area surrounding the intersection and operated several drug houses, including apartments on Lexington Avenue, Lakeview Park and West Main Street.

Federal authorities said the houses were used for processing, manufacturing and distributing drugs. Members of the gang also frequently possessed guns and used violence and threats to control the sale of drugs in the area, investigators said.

“We are taking the fight literally to the streets of Rochester,” Hochul said.

Nearly a dozen leaders of a notorious Bronx gang who built a pile of cash and drugs by ripping off homes and robbing drug dealers were behind bars on Thursday, officials said.

Investigators with the Special Narcotics Gang Prosecution Unit, the NYPD and the Bronx District Attorney found that 11 kingpins with the gang 6 Wild organized dozens of armed robberies over the last two years aimed at cocaine and heroin dealers in Morrisania, officials said.

"This group carried out vicious assaults, robberies and drug dealing," said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan. "Each and every activity they were involved in threatened the safety of the people in their community."

Prosecutors unsealed a 58-count indictment against the gangbangers, charging them with a slew of crimes that include conspiracy to commit attempted murder, robbery and assault.

Authorities said that the crew undefined which stole as much as three kilos of cocaine in one heist undefined also violently attacked innocent people in at least three robberies.

The three men burst into his home and put a gun to the man's head, demanding cash and drugs undefined but nothing was found in the house, officials said.

After they pummeled the man, the crew grabbed a stash of jewelry, clothes and money before they ran away, officials said.

In most of the home invasion robberies, the gang enlisted young girls and boys to run guns and get close to their targets so they could gather information on stash spots and the best time to attack, officials said.

"The 6 Wild crew thought that by using young women, juvenile boys and stashed guns they would evade police," said NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "They were wrong."

The ruthless crew also caused at least a dozen bloody confrontations with rival gang members on the street leading to several shootings, according to the probe.

Gang members even bragged about their earnings on social media by using code words like "Grip," "Glocc," "Tool" and "Bike" for a firearm, and "Krills," "Yams" and "Grizz" for drugs, authorities said.

One gang member, Branden Cullins, posted a picture to his Facebook account showing the word "Wild" spelled out in cash, officials said.

Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson said the takedown will help the neighborhood feel a little safer.

"Our office has had many dealings with the decent, hard-working residents of Morrisania," Johnson said. "Their message to us has always been a loud and clear desire for crime-free streets. We will never give up the effort to provide them with the quality of life they deserve."

"Gang activity revolves around the distribution of narcotics, and in this community we have a drug distribution problem," said Broome County Capt. Fred Akshar.

The Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings and the Aryan Brotherhood gangs have all been sited in the Greater Binghamton area.

Akshar says local agencies are getting better at recognizing the signs.

"We recently instituted the field intelligence questionnaire, which even the deputies in this county have an opportunity now to ask certain questions of suspects or defendants and gleam some further information on further criminal activity," Akshar said.

Data is then sent to the jail to keep up on suspect information. Jails -- and even local schools -- are some of the top recruitment spots for gang members, Akshar said. Inside the correctional facility, it's up to officers to enforce the rules.

"If we see any type of identifiers that we think they might be involved in a group then we interview them. Inside the facility we don't separate one gang from another, so we explain to these guys that no matter what group you're with that you have to get along," said Broome County Correctional Facility Capt. Kevin Moore.

These rules prevents power in numbers, but it also helps to decrease recruitment within the jail walls and in Broome County, Moore said.

BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. -- As jurors in Broome County Court deal with a murder trial with possible gang ties, the Broome County Sheriff's office says gang violence continues to grow in the Southern Tier.

"We've seen, in recent years, major long-term investigation focused on organized groups of criminal activity," said Captain Fred Akshar of the Broome County Sheriff's office.

The problem, police say, stems from a bigger issue that's plagued the community for years.

"Gang activity, I think, revolves around the distribution of narcotics. In this particular, we have a drug distribution problem," Akshar said.

Akshar says four major gangs are prevalent in Broome County: The Bloods, the Crips, the Latin Kings and the Aryan Brotherhood. In an effort to curb further gang violence, police are stepping up their work in the field.

"Even the patrolmen, the deputies, in this county, have an opportunity now to ask certain questions of suspects or defendants in certain cases and try and glean some further information about ongoing criminal activity," Akshar said.

When gang members are arrested in the community, many of them are brought to the Broome County Correctional Facility, but there is a worry among law enforcement officials that their time there could create further problems once they're out.

"The correctional facilities or the state prisons are the areas where recruitment is the highest, that being the number one place," said Captain Kevin Moore of the Broome County Sheriff's Office.

While they may not be able to eliminate the problem of recruitment within the walls at the jail, officials enforce strict rules to help identify gang members.

"If they're in possession of gang paraphernalia, if they're showing gang signs, have gang literature, that's a violation of the rules and they can be written up for that," Moore said.

As the Sheriff's department continues to address the problem, it advises residents to be vigilant and report anything they suspect might be gang activity.

They stepped back outside when they thought Johnson had left, but he was nearby and opened fire, sources said. He was likely aiming for someone else in the group, sources said.

Someone in the group identified Johnson as the shooter, court papers say.

Johnson had been arrested three weeks ago after accidentally shooting himself in the leg on May 12 in East New York. In that case, he was hit with reckless endangerment and gun possession charges and released on $3,500 bail, records show.

Responding to a bloody weekend in which seven people were killed and more than two dozen were shot, the NYPD on Monday beefed up police staffing at public housing developments, and deployed mobile and stationary observation towers for patrols, officials said.

In addition, plainclothes officers are being assigned to anti-crime units citywide at crucial periods, and officers were told to track and arrest those wanted on outstanding warrants, said police spokesman Paul Browne.

He said investigators also would monitor gang crews to try to prevent retaliations for the weekend's shooting spree.

Among those hurt in the weekend gunfire, which began late Friday, was 11-year-old bystander Tayloni Mazyck of Brooklyn, who police said appears to have been paralyzed Friday night by a stray bullet outside her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment. Police suspect Tayloni was struck by a bullet fired by Kane Cooper, 17, as he fired at rival gang members.

Cooper was arrested Saturday and was held without bail on charges of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and other counts, said a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg chalked up some of the violence to the hot and humid weather this past weekend, which he said often leads to short tempers and higher crime. But at the same time, Bloomberg said the number of shootings for the year is way down from the same period a year earlier.

"The bottom line is, including this weekend, we have the lowest number of shootings that we've had in a decade, OK?" Bloomberg said in response to a question Monday about the weekend violence. A mayoral spokesman said later that Bloomberg was referring to year-to-date trends in making his overall comparison.

Bloomberg also said the city remains safe. He could take heart from the latest FBI crime statistics, which on Monday showed that the city last year had the second-lowest "murder" rate per 100,000 population of any major U.S. city with more than 1 million people, behind San Diego. The city rate for all homicides was 5.05 per 100,000, compared with 3.51 per 100,000 for San Diego.

There were 26 shootings including seven homicides this weekend, Browne said, although some unofficial tallies put the shootings at 25 and homicides at eight. Police didn't have a borough-by-borough breakdown of the shootings. Three shooting victims were younger than 16.

"Even with the weekend shootings, homicides are still down 24 percent from last year," Browne said.

He said there have been 127 killings in the city so far in 2013, down from 167 last year.

According to NYPD statistics, there have been 383 shooting incidents involving 439 victims through June 2, compared with 522 shootings and 615 victims in the same period of 2012. That represents declines of 28.6 percent in the number of victims and 26.6 percent in the total shooting incidents.

"This happens," former NYPD Det. Sgt. Joseph Giacalone said of the blip in shootings in what has been a less violent year in the city. "It happened last year, too. The only thing you have to make sure that you are not dealing with a gang war or drug wars."

Giacalone expressed concern that with fewer of the controversial stop-and-frisk searches done by police -- 51 percent fewer were conducted in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2012 -- street criminals are becoming emboldened.

"The bad guys follows these things," Giacalone said. "This is something that has to be monitored."

Police late Monday said they were questioning a man whom they called a person of interest in the shooting of three men in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens section of Brooklyn on Sunday.

One action was the recent arrest of alleged Latin King gang member Gabriel Gonzalez by the Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force. With the aid of the Binghamton, Johnson City, Vestal joint SWAT Team, SIU raided 25 Berlin Street in Binghamton's First Ward last week. Police say 18 year-old Gonzalez was apprehended as he tried to flee out a back door. He faces weapons charges after investigators allegedly found a loaded stolen .32 caliber handgun and sawed-off shotgun in the home. SIU says the arrest grew out of an investigation into recent shootings on Thorp and Crandall Streets in the city.